Writing strategies


Write! Rather than presenting your ideas orally, put them in writing. The writing process is formative and generates reflection (on this subject, read authors like Marlene Scardamalia, Carl Bereiter).

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 Writing, a tool for thinking

  • Stack the versions! Keep track of the major changes you are making. Work with different versions so you can go back if needed,write my essay for me see evolution, etc.
  • Write regularly! Set yourself writing time slots and move forward in writing your research project, whatever your mood, state of mind, etc. From time to time, let stand a few days o gain distance, then resume regular writing.
  • Share your production with trusted peers for constructive feedback.
  • From a terminological point of view, use the terms consistently (eg do not start by talking about the learner , then you talk about the pupil , then the participant, then the student, etc. more suitable and use it!).
  • Write consistently. Ideas should logically follow each other and be developed accordingly so that the reader can understand, in a fluid way, the flow of your argument.
  • From an ethical point of view, beware of plagiarism! Correctly cite the authors you use, etc. The University of Geneva site has a whole section on plagiarism: as well as a site, database on questions relating to plagiarism :

ethical arrangements to anticipate

Data protection laws are getting stricter and so when you engage in research in which human beings are involved, which is often the case with educational technology, you are going to need to anticipate any issues. kind of measure to comply with the laws in force. For example, you can consult the website of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of 

To practice:

1) Identify a scientific journal article and look at the logical arrangement of the writing, how the sentences, paragraphs, etc. follow one another.

2) Develop a starting structure that seems appropriate for your research project given the approach in which you are going to put it.

3) From the structure developed, write 3 sentences for each part.

Writing is not just a task of transposing ideas into words. It's a complex cognitive process that begins as soon as you start to take notes, premium essay to organize them more or less formally in a plan, long before you start to compose the text.

A text is a coherent sequence of ideas on a theme, which represents knowledge organized in the head of the author. Its function is to enable a reader to reconstruct an organization of similar knowledge. However, from the author's point of view, writing can also correspond to an act of learning, because this task requires finding a way to relate knowledge to one another and to create a structure where it is needed. Previously there could only be a set of disparate or poorly connected ideas. This is especially true when you have to talk about a subject on which you have never spoken.

In general, a text includes an introduction, a development, and a conclusion. Here is what characterizes each:

  • The introduction informs the reader of the subject, of the aspects which are covered, and gives an outline of the plan which one will follow in the development.
  • At the heart of the work, development exposes and discusses, proves, refutes, or argues all ideas. The qualities of good development are clarity, logic, and continuity in advancing the ideas put forward.
  • The conclusion synthesizes the ideas put forward, or provides a response, or even opens up new perspectives.

In the case of the reading report, the two parts (review of writings and personal position statement) also include their introduction, development, and conclusion.

The two aspects of writing that we are dealing with here are composition and editing. As we have hinted at in the Personal Approach metacognitive activity, there are several ways of writing, corresponding to different ways of arranging the fundamental operations of the process. A given individual probably has a characteristic sequence, but this does not exclude that he may use another according to his perception of the characteristics of the task, his work environment, the text already produced, etc. Therefore, the following suggestions are general and apply mutatis mutandis to all approaches.

 

 Suggestions to facilitate composition and review

  • If you like to proceed from a relatively detailed plan, and if you work with a word processor, there is usually in this type of software a planning mode that allows you to enter a text structure made up of titles and sub-titles and then compose the text that goes under each. You enter your detailed plan on the computer and then compose under each title. The computer automatically numbers titles and, if you decide to change the plan, updates the numbering.
  • Do not hesitate to revise your writing plan if necessary if, during the composition, you discover an inconsistency or a better way to structure the text.
  • If you have difficulty with a section of the text, you can temporarily leave it aside and work on another section. If a solution is not found, it may be that the relevance of this section is in question or its location in the structure of the text.
  • The introduction is a part usually easier to write at the end of the composition phase.
  • It is always beneficial to postpone surface revisions, that is to say, those concerning spelling and syntax, to the very end. It is best to focus first on the consistency of text and clarity of expression of ideas.
  • Effective editing is always done by trying to adopt the reader's point of view on the text. It's about playing the role of the reader, trying to forget what you wanted to say to focus on evaluating what you said. Such an operation is facilitated if the text is left to stand for some time before starting to revise it. If we do not have the necessary time, buy argumentative essay we can submit it to a critical reader who can have the necessary distance in our place. Warning! Each reader's observation should be assessed on merit and as objectively as possible, based on the purpose of the text and not on the author's emotional attachment to its creation.
  • Beware of digressions, they can reveal flaws in the sequence of ideas.
  • For spelling, do not hesitate to consult a dictionary or grammar, or to use computer proofreaders.

To facilitate surface revisions, it is best to deal with the different aspects of the language one by one. For example, if we know that we have difficulty with the agreement of past participles, it is preferable to go through the text by limiting ourselves to correcting this aspect while leaving the others for further reading.